Maamle’s living life on the go as a senior highways engineer

Maamle’s living life on the go as a senior highways engineer

Who plans out new roads and their improvements? It’s what highway engineers do. Plotr caught up with Maamle to find out more about her job.

Maamle always wanted to be an engineer. Growing up in Ghana, she took a keen interest in engineering from an early age and had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects during her time at university. She was drawn to highway engineering and realised the great impact roads had on the community.

Tell us about your job…

I work as a Senior Highways Engineer for Skanska on a ten-year highways maintenance contract for Peterborough City Council. I take a lead in the design of highway improvement schemes. These schemes are varied in scope and size and could be small as installing some dropped kerbs or as large as redesigning road links and junctions. I work with a team so on a daily basis, I make sure each and every person in my team has been assigned with tasks and understands what’s required of them. As an engineer, I have a duty of care to provide designs which are safe for people who use them and also people who maintain them. I’m responsible for making sure the work we produce meets all safety legislation, is in line with SKANSKA’s quality standards and meets our client’s expectations.

What are the best bits about your job?

I work mainly in Highways, which involves connecting towns, cities and providing accesses for people. The best thing about my job is making a difference in people’s lives by providing infrastructure that meets their daily needs.

What 3 top skills or qualities are important for this job?

Analytical

Problem solving

Ability to work under pressure

These are important because as an engineer you need to be able to exercise independent judgment.

Tell us about a normal day as a highway engineer…

On a normal day, I’ll check and make sure that the staff I’m responsible for have work. I also review work produced by my team. I usually work from 8am till 4pm but there are times when I have to work longer in order to meet my deadlines. What advice would you give anyone who’d like a career in highway engineering? In order to do my job, you should be hardworking and follow things through to completion, even when there are challenges.